I was a former Saint, but I was also an Alraune—a plant monster.
And by inheriting the power of the Dryades, I had become something closer to a spirit.
If I, now possessing both light and dark magic, used Energy Drain, the effects would surely surpass those of a Dryades. Even a goddess couldn't resist me so long as she was tied to a physical vessel.
"If this weren't just a temporary vessel... If I had completely claimed this girl's body as my own, an attack of this level would never work on me."
Hecate hadn't fully acclimated to the Little Witch's body yet. This was my chance! I would drain every last drop of her mana right here and now!
Against my onslaught, Hecate quietly closed her eyes as if giving up.
"There is a way to forcibly negate this, but if I did, this vessel would..."
Suddenly, Hecate’s resistance vanished. It was as if she had simply accepted the inevitable. Then it clicked. Was Hecate actually being considerate of the Little Witch’s body?
If she had unleashed the full power of the Goddess of Darkness, she could have escaped my Energy Drain. But doing so at this moment would have destroyed the girl's physical form. That sentiment reached me clearly through the Energy Drain.
Maybe Hecate wasn't a total villain after all.
Thinking that, I reached out a vine toward the weakened goddess. "Please, don't misunderstand. I have no desire to be your enemy."
My ultimate goal was just to live a quiet life in the forest with everyone. If I could avoid conflict, I would. I didn't want to make any more enemies. Hecate, the Goddess of Darkness, might be an enemy to humanity, but I felt like I could reach an understanding with her. Just as I, a former Saint, had befriended the angel Pandia-san. As a monster, I should be able to extend a hand to a dark goddess.
Of course, the minimum requirement for that was getting the Little Witch back safely. If she stole my friend away, I knew I could never forgive her.
So— "For now, you need to cool your head a bit!"
"Aaaaaargh!"
Hecate's voice cracked. That was Rufe's voice! Her consciousness was trying to resurface. The figures of Hecate and the Little Witch flickered back and forth, appearing like two souls overlapping in a single body.
"Rufe, come back to us!"
I kept up the Energy Drain while gently wrapping my vines around the Little Witch's body. As I pulled her close to my chest, a voice reached my ears.
"I am... wait, I'm... No! Don't come out!"
There it was again—the Little Witch's voice. Rufe was fighting Hecate-sama's consciousness. You can do it, Little Witch!
"I... I am not some deity whose mind can be usurped by a mere slip of a girl...!"
She was stubborn. As expected of the Goddess of Darkness. Even though she looked like she’d given up on the body, she wasn't going to hand it back without a fight. And despite claiming she was spent, she still possessed an immense amount of magic power. It was terrifying to think that if she had used all that power specifically to overwrite the Little Witch's soul, she might have succeeded by now.
How long did I have to keep using Energy Drain? I wanted to help her, but if I pushed the ability too far, I'd end up damaging her body. Getting her back would be pointless if she was broken beyond repair.
My victory condition was simple: bring her back unharmed. "Is there anything else I can do...?"
My eyes darted around the clearing in search of an answer. That's when I noticed it. The Mandrake, which I'd ignored for so long, was wide awake.
"When did you wake up?"
It had been snoozing peacefully in its pot before the battle started, but now it was fully alert. It opened its mouth wide and— "ONGYAAAAAAA!"
The Mandrake's scream held a mysterious, terrifying power that could knock anyone unconscious. But the only ones here were me, Pandia-san, and Hecate. Both Hecate and I should have had a resistance to it. And yet, Hecate clapped her hands over her ears. She'd said it wouldn't work on her, so why the reaction?
Could it be that because she was starting to return to the original Little Witch's body, the Mandrake's scream was getting through?
"If the scream knocks out Rufe's consciousness while she's serving as the vessel, Hecate's possession might be canceled!"
It felt like a solid theory. Hecate covering her ears was the proof. Even if Hecate held the reins, the consciousness of the body was shifting toward the Little Witch's side. She must have been afraid that the body would faint. I could use the Mandrake's power to save her.
I quickly devised a plan, shifting some of my roots through the soil to the bottom of the flowerpot.
"Do your best, Mandrake!"
"ONGYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"
"The scream of a mere Mandrake shouldn't reach me... It shouldn't, so why does it feel different this time...?"
As expected of the Goddess of Darkness, she noticed the change immediately. "Is that Mandrake... absorbing the Alraune's light and darkness?"
"You're quick on the uptake, aren't you?"
That Mandrake was born from me, meaning it had inherited my power from the start. And since my power had grown significantly since then, I figured the little guy would get stronger if I shared some of it. I'd been secretly funneling my energy into it.
"I feel the Alraune's power in that creature. But how? I don't understand."
"The answer is in the soil."
"You've been connected to the Mandrake through your roots this whole time...?"
It was the Christmas Tree's Parasitic Root ability—the power to sever other roots and connect them to my own. Since the Mandrake was also a plant monster, we could link up. Normally, a Christmas Tree uses those roots to steal water and minerals, but I did the opposite. I used a variation of Energy Drain to give my own life force to the Mandrake.
That was why its scream had leveled up. Just as Hecate had passed the power of darkness to me, and the Witch Queen had passed black magic to the Little Witch, I had passed the power of the Alraune to the Mandrake. Passing on one's power wasn't a trick reserved for goddesses and queens!
"Hecate-sama. The next time we meet, let's do it as the three of us—me, Rufe, and you."
"I... the scream doesn't... it won't work... but the vessel... Wait, what am I doing... ah."
By siphoning off her magic with Energy Drain, the consciousness shifted from Hecate back to Rufe. In that split second, the Mandrake's roar hammered against the Little Witch's eardrums.
"Alraune? What... what happened to me...?"
Thud.
Hecate—no, Rufe—collapsed. She was back!
I caught her gently with my vines. Her vitals seemed fine. She'd been knocked out by that Mandrake so many times I'd lost count. I figured that the moment she regained even a sliver of consciousness, she would faint immediately. She'd complained so often about being 'used to' fainting because of that thing, after all.
Luckily, it meant I didn't have to hurt her physically. It was the best possible way to get her back.
"I never thought you'd be the one to save the day."
I had reclaimed the Little Witch's body from Hecate without a scratch. And the unlikely hero turned out to be that tiny Mandrake born from Hecate and me.
Christmas Tree: A semi-parasitic plant that uses its Scissor Ability and parasitic roots to steal nutrients from other plants. They are known to cut through more than just vegetation, sometimes even severing underground cables.
Next time: The Oath of the Yellow Rose.